Forgiving What You Can't Forget: Discover How to Move On, Make Peace with Painful Memories, and Create a Life That’s Beautiful Again

by Lysa TerKeurst

When I got so very hurt by my friend on top of being hurt by Art, if the full weight of the emotional impact would have hit me at once, it just might have killed me. I’m not being dramatic. My body was deeply affected by the emotional fallout. If you read my last book, you know I almost died during the worst season of all the trauma when my colon twisted and cut off the blood flow inside of me. I had to be rushed into emergency surgery to have most of my colon removed and spent weeks in the critical-care unit fighting for my life. The surgeon who operated on me later said that when he cut me open, the trauma was so severe it looked like I’d been hit by a bus. Most of us will never see the visible reality of what holding on to our pain, resentment, and unforgiveness looks like. But I’ve seen some of the pictures from my surgery. And I’m more convinced than ever, emotional trauma hits us with as much severity and impact as just about anything else.